Turning veggie: a tip

If you change your diet to have less or no meat, besides taking things out, you will likely need to add things in.

Our most common meals growing up included meat as the main, veggies and bread on the side.

Meat + veggie + bread – meat = boring (and not very filling)

When I went vegetarian, getting recipes was critical. (Still is!)

A friend gifted me with “How to Cook Everything Vegetarian” by Mark Bittman, and it was wonderful. And still is. If you’re not offended by language, check out Thug Kitchen’s blog, and if you like their stuff, their recipe book is also full of tasty things. (And when I started, neither Pinterest nor the Instant Pot existed yet.)

Pick some that aren’t too complicated but look tasty. Wade into bigger gambles after you have a few wins under your belt.

Be aware of false friends: all of the “healthy substitutions” are different from what you want. Veggie burgers—made of a wide variety of things—can be really tasty, but they’re not burgers. No matter how you cut it, cauliflower isn’t rice. This isn’t to say that the substitutions are invalid or don’t work. But if you’re expecting it to be the same, you’re going to be disappointed, angry, disgusted, or some combination thereof.